Line and colour

Part 3 Using water-soluble coloured pencils, develop your skills and fluency as you learn five techniques to add colour washes to ink and graphite sketches, with Tim Fisher

Water-soluble coloured pencils

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Practise five techniques for watersoluble coloured pencil work:

■Mixing on a paper palette

■Scraping

■Dry on wet

■Splattering

■Lifting colour with a brush

I’ve sketched with drawing inks and pens for many years now. I usually create a very rapid and loose ink drawing then introduce light and shade by working over the drawing with a graphite pencil. I nearly always use ink as the basis for my sketches, but have recently started to look at ways of introducing colour into these works.

If your sketchbook is made from cartridge paper then water-soluble coloured pencils offer a good option. They can be applied and dissolved without adding too much water to the surface, which in turn reduces cockling or distortion to the paper.

Colour and water

When on holiday or travelling, it’s easy to pack for every eventuality and end up carrying far too much equipment. Water-soluble coloured pencils offer you a way of travelling light, especially if you use only a few well-considered colours.

About Leisure Painter

Welcome to the summer issue of Leisure Painter. We've packed this issue with a variety of painting tutorials and demonstrations for landscapes, portraits, birds, nocturnes, harbour scenes, flowers and gardens. If you love painting detail in watercolour, look no further than Paul Hopkinson's portrait of a barn owl and Jarnie Godwin's beginners' guide to botanical painting. If you want to simplify the detail, look out for Paul Alcock's painting project of a busy harbour scene and Hazel Soan's watercolour portraits. From tips on work outdoors to how to paint successfully from photographs, there's something for all busy amateur painters in this month's issue. You'll find practical advice on how to use watercolour pencils and other drawing media, watercolour, acrylics and oils along with where to go and what to do throughout the summer. Enjoy your month of painting!